Up, close and personal: Nilratan Shende

Today, we spend some time to get to know better one of our own team members. Nilratan Shende, who heads the projects department in Mumbai, talks about his life and what motivates him:

What is your background?
I was born in Raipur, Chattisgarh, and moved to Pauni, which is in Maharashtra, where I spent all my childhood till my graduation. My parents continue to live there.
After graduating in Biology, I started exploring other career options. I was always inclined towards social development, so I began preparing for the entrance examination at TISS (Tata Institute of Social Sciences). My hard worked paid off when I got in the Masters programme for social work.
I graduated in 2002 and had the opportunity to work on diverse development areas like resettlement and rehabilitation, education, health, women’s empowerment, rights of the children, advocacy for the rights of Dalits and marginalised.

What are the hurdles you have faced in your life?
The experiences and socialisation you are exposed to leaves a deep imprint and shapes your personality and response. All through my childhood and even later, I had to listen to derogatory comments about my caste. I was discriminated against for this reason. People were prejudiced about me, isolated me in school and looked down on me. I even missed out on several professional opportunities because of my caste.
My experiences made me conscious about Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, a great reformer who worked for the empowerment of Dalits. The more I read about his struggle and work on emancipation, the more it ignited the spark in me that motivated me to strive for success. I have taken hardships and rejection as an opportunity to prove myself. And I let my actions speak to counter criticism and humiliation.

 How do you feel about Mumbai?
I have been in Mumbai for close to a decade. I love its cosmopolitan culture, the opportunities, the challenging life, the pace of the work and the acceptance of the people.
I hate the hunger and malnutrition around me, the income and health and social inequality. I’m disappointed at the state’s disinterest in education and the discriminatory agenda that social organisations and political parties have.

What do you think Mumbai needs to provide a better life for its citizens?
• Inclusive housing
• Bridging the gap between haves and haves not
• Better options for a livelihood
• More public spaces
• Regional tolerance
• BMC schools are closing down which is forcing students from vulnerable social groups to drop out prematurely. Government needs to ensure that education is provided to everyone as it breaks shackles of poverty and provides dignified life.

What is your work at Mumbai Smiles?
I’ve been with Mumbai Smiles for about six months now. As projects director, my role involves networking with NGOs, identifying local counterparts, assessment of the needs of the diverse target groups, research, impact assessment, conceptualizing developmental projects and executing them following the guidelines and Vision set by General Direction, accessing the project proposals, and monitoring and evaluation of the developmental projects.

What motivates you?
I enjoy the challenges in the field of development. The challenges of inequality, human rights violations, precarious poverty, being sensitive to the culture of the people you work with. I believe that my training and experience will help me to contribute towards the growth of the organisation. More importantly, I believe I can try to alter some of the development indicators like education, health, livelihood and work closely on issues related with inequality, injustice, human rights violation. In return, the learning I get from my work and, especially, from Mumbai Smiles has helped me blossom as a professional.

What do you enjoy about your work?

The intervention that brings social, educational and economical change and, most importantly, the smiles on the faces of the stakeholders and beneficiaries are the most satisfying.

Welcome to the Future Smiles team!

Monday saw new additions to the Mumbai Smiles band of helpers :)

The first members of the Future Smiles team began work yesterday, discussing and planning work for the coming academic year. We have already drawn up a list of students from Karuna orphanage (Mumbai Smiles's first project) and Yashodhan school, who will be the first beneficiaries of the Future Smiles project. In case you missed our earlier post about this project, you can read about it here: Future Smiles

And, here's a quick introduction to our newest colleagues:

Sitting on the left is Sagar Bhandare. He has a Master's degree in Social Work and has worked with the National Domestic Workers Movement, International Institute of Population Science and Salaam Bombay Foundation. He will assess students in need, design development plans, and manage all the information for the programme.

In the centre is Sachin Ingle, who is the office assistant, and will help the other members of the team execute their tasks.

On the right is Chandrakant Sasane, also a post-graduate in Social Work, who has joined the team as a counsellor. Chandrakant has extensive experience as a counsellor (providing career guidance, psychological counselling, conducting motivational and confidence-building sessions, training modules, etc) and lecturer. He has worked with ICRW (International Centre for Research on Women), SATHI (Social Advancement Through Health Initiative), Sidharth College, Acharya College, among others. He is responsible for evaluating and assessing students, preparing development plans, providing counselling and career planning, and more.

With this team of smart and talented individuals, Future Smiles is off to a great start!

Rashmi Pai, a mediator for all

Meet Rashmi Pai, a dedicated worker at the Bombay Leprosy Project's clinic in Sion. She has been working with BLP for 33 years and shows no sign of slowing down.

Rashmi first got to know about leprosy in school, when she remembers seeing some slideshows. She had also heard about social worker Baba Amte and his work in rehabilitating and empowering leprosy patients. Always harbouring an interest in helping other people, Rashmi decided to join BLP.

Rashmi's is a familiar face to Mumbai Smiles visitors as she is the one who educates them about leprosy and its treatment.

Her responsibilities with BLP include programming and planning their projects, monitoring patients, supervising admissions and other patient services. She is the all-important mediator between the various arms of BLP.

Rashmi is 58 years old and has one son. Such is her commitment that she travels every day from Borivali to Sion, a journey of several hours. The world needs more people like her.

Through my eyes: The jovial Samson

In this 'Through my eyes', meet Samson, the always-smiling tough guy who manages the reception desk, all phone calls and does small administrative tasks around the office. Visitors to our office would have met him right at the entrance, friendly and smiling. Today, we get a glimpse into his life.


This is the ground where I play cricket with my friends. I love cricket and my friends and I play whenever possible. We even organise teams and play championships. Our team is the best!


Here we are playing carrom, I, my friends and my uncle. We usually play carrom when it’s raining, because it is an indoor game.


This is my house, where I sleep. Every morning, before going to work, I pray. I’m Catholic.


Here is where I get my haircut. I have been coming to this place all my life, because it’s very close to my house, so I know everyone here.


With my parents at home.


At home with my two dogs, Sandy and Cheena. They are very naughty, especially when new people come home, but I love them and they are very affectionate.


We usually buy things at this shop which is very close to my home. It’s quite small but has everything.


My friends and I. They all live in the same neighbourhood, so I've known all of them since childhood.


Babu is a rickshawalla and a good friend of mine. He lives in the same locality and we have been friends for a long time.


The Main road near my house. The area’s name is Marol, and this road is the one we have to take to go anywhere. There’s always a lot of traffic and the cars, trucks and rickshaws don’t stop honking.


A Buddhist temple in Marol, called Buddha Mandir.


This is the Mumbai Smiles car, in which visitors go to visit the projects. My work was to watch out for Jaume sir, but now I am in the new office doing administrative tasks and in the reception. I am very happy to work here!

Through my eyes

'Through my eyes' is a simple activity we have come up with so that you can get to know better the people who make up Mumbai Smiles and its projects. In this, we hand over cameras to different people (employees of Mumbai Smiles, employees of our partner NGOs, beneficiaries, etc) to capture details of their life and routine.








In the coming months, we will share those moments with you on this blog, along with their comments and their explanations of life, family, work and play. What better way to see their reality than through their eyes?

Life beyond leprosy

Every day at Mumbai Smiles, you meet amazing people and get a chance to hear their stories.
This is Mahendra Shinde, who runs the clinic at the Bombay Leprosy Project's (BLP) main office in Sion. Mahendra is 44 years old, and is married with two kids. He is a warm, kind person whose happy countenance doesn't reveal anything about his difficult past.


Mahendra was diagnosed with leprosy way back in 1979 and began treatment with the Bombay Leprosy Project in 1983. It was not easy and Mahendra lost a leg to the disease. However, in 1987, he got a chance to work with BLP and has been with the organisation ever since.


Today, Mahendra is completely rehabilitated and cured of leprosy. He is able to walk with a Jaipur foot, and though his fingers are deformed, he can do all the office work and even use the computer. He is also the proud recipient of two 'Best Worker' awards.


Mahendra, you are an inspiration to us all...

Photo credit: Mumbai Smiles